We're Still in Kansas After All
by The King's Soldier
Summary: This will be a collection of various one-shots and character pieces based around the people and events of Jericho. The fifth piece is called "Mimi: Happiness" and is about what her relationship with her mom might have looked like and how it affected her.
1. Emily: Thicker Than Blood

Disclaimer: I do not own Jericho in any way, shape, or form. If I did, I would have found a way to make a third season.  
>Author's Note: I've been on a bit of a Jericho kick lately, and I have a lot of small fics popping into my head. This "story" will be a place for me to post them as they came. This first one is about Emily, one of my favorite characters, and how Jericho is more to her than just a town. Enjoy!<p>

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><p><strong>Emily: Thicker Than Blood<strong>

"What is it that keeps you so tied to Jericho?"

Roger had asked her that about a month after he moved to town. He had been walking her home after a night at Bailey's, and somehow the question had just slipped out. They had stopped in the snow together in front of her house, and Emily had studied the brightly-colored Christmas lights strung across Gray's Anderson's roof while she tried to think of an answer. In the end she had just shrugged. Then Roger had grinned and pulled a sprig of mistletoe out of his pocket and held it over their heads and they had kissed. Emily had completely forgotten the question after that. Until Roger appeared to her in the bathroom of Bailey's, the same words on his lips.

"_What is it that keeps you so tied to Jericho?"_

She hadn't even known what to tell him the first time he had asked. (The second time she had been too upset to think of anything but whether or not he was okay.) She hadn't known how to tell him, hadn't known how to make him understand that Jericho is more than just a town to her. It's her home. This is where she belongs, where she has always belonged. In Jericho, with her family.

She had only been four years old when her father had left them for another life, leaving his wife alone with a preschooler and a baby boy. They had had no family in the town, no one to help them make ends meet. But in the end they didn't need anyone. The residents of Jericho had a way of taking care of their own, and while many of them had shied away from the Sullivans because of Jonah's reputation, they all came flooding back the minute he left. Emily knows she has the Greens to thank for that, among so many other things.

When the new school year started, her mother had taken up a teaching position at the high school. Emily started preschool, and since there were no official daycare programs she spent her afternoons in the Green household with Jake and Eric. More often than not, Stanley Richmond, Jake's best friend, was also there. He and Jake were both three years older, but the younger Green boy immediately took Emily under his wing. By the time she was seven, the three of them were a force to be reckoned with. Jake and Emily were forever getting themselves in trouble. Stanley was the more cautious of the three and often voiced his doubts about their many schemes, but he was also a fiercely loyal sidekick who never failed to be right beside them when the show began. Or when the punishment was handed out.

Jonah Prowse was not exactly scarce during Emily's childhood. He showed up every now and then to check on his son and daughter. As a child, Emily loved these visits. It was her father who taught her how to shoot, how to hotwire a car, and how to sneak candy out of Gracie's store without being caught. He also taught her how to drive a truck at eleven years old. (Jake and Stanley had loved that, although there had been hell to pay when Johnston Green passed them halfway to New Bern in Stanley's father's truck.) It was only as she grew older and became more acquainted with her father's work, and began to realize the hold he was developing on Chris, that Emily's attitude toward Jonah began to change.

The years flew by, and soon Jake and Stanley were graduating. Stanley had managed to land an outrageous football scholarship, and he took off for college. A year later his parents were killed in a car crash and he was forced to return to Jericho to take care of the family farm and to raise his younger sister.

Emily finally graduated three years behind her two best friends, and headed off to college to get a teaching degree. Two hours after she received her diploma she had her bags packed and was on her way back to Jericho. She had planned to take up a teaching job alongside her mother, but halfway through that summer cancer intervened and suddenly Emily and Chris were alone in the world.

Chris was eighteen by then, and Emily kept trying to convince him to go to college. But no matter how many times Chris assured her that he would think about it, he never seemed to go. Instead he preferred to follow the example of Jake Green, who also had never left Jericho. Emily was glad to have her best friend around, especially with how close they were becoming, but it still bothered her sometimes that a person as talented as Jake was still sitting around doing nothing at the age of twenty-five.

Emily took up her mother's job at the high school and fell completely in love with it. The salary was small, but it was enough for her and Chris. But Chris was beginning to slip away, leaning more and more in the direction of their father. Emily's one consolation was that Jake seemed to be keeping an eye on him.

And then one day she woke up to find that Chris was dead and Jake was gone. It had all happened so fast. That was when she had cut Jonah Prowse out of her life forever. Nothing he said or did, no words of regret or offerings of peace, could ever make up for what he had done. It was his fault Chris was dead, and Emily would never be able to forgive him for that. He might have given her life, but he was no father of hers. He had given up that right long ago. And the entire town of Jericho had stepped in to fill the void.

That is what she knows she could never hope to make Roger understand, even if he were still here: how much these people mean to her. It was Johnston Green who had taught her how to fish and throw a football. It was Gail who she had called at ten o'clock at night when she still didn't understand her homework and her exhausted mother had already fallen asleep. It was Gray Anderson who had helped her put up the Christmas lights when she was too young to do it herself. It was Shep who had helped her pick out her first car, and it was Stanley's father who had put down his plow long enough to drive out and help her change her first tire. It was Gracie who had always found ways to make sure she and Chris got some of their favorite candy, even when money got too tight for their mother to afford it. It was April Green who had sat beside her as her mother fought for her life, and it was Jake who had held her while she mourned her. It was Johnston who had offered to cover her history class when she caught the flu, and it was Gray, of all people, who had finally found a way to fix the kitchen sink that refused to stop leaking even after the plumper came by. It was Eric who had made all the arrangements for Chris' funeral, and it was Gail who stayed with her that night and who had checked on her for days afterward despite the fact that her own son had vanished. It was at the Green household that she has spent twenty years of Christmases and birthdays, and it was at the Richmond ranch that she has spent even more New Years and Super Bowl parties. The people of Jericho are her family.

And now they're in danger.

Emily swings her gun over her shoulder and heads outside to meet the others. New Bern is coming to attack Jericho. But this is their home, and they are not about to give it up. The time has come for them to fight, and maybe even die, to defend what they love. And Emily is determined to stand beside them. Jonah might have turned tail and run, but she is not about to make the same mistake. She learned long ago that there are some things that are thicker than blood. Not for the first time, she's glad her mother chose to name her Sullivan instead of Prowse.

She's never really been her father's daughter anyway.

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><p>So how was it? Write a review and let me know! There are more of these on the way, so keep your eyes open.<p> 


	2. Belonging

Disclaimer: I still don't own Jericho.  
>Author's Note: This piece focuses on Mimi, the Richmond siblings, and a football. Enjoy!<p>

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><p><strong>Belonging<strong>

Stanley cooked dinner tonight, and Bonnie set the table, so that means Mimi has to wash dishes. She doesn't mind, really. As much as she hates washing dishes, it's good for Stanley and Bonnie to have a bit of time to themselves.

When she finally finishes, she goes and sits out on the porch swing. Stanley and Bonnie are busy throwing a football in the yard. Both of them are smiling and laughing, and Mimi is content to sit quietly on the porch swing and watch them. Stanley starts to chase Bonnie, who immediately squeals and takes off. When her brother finally catches up with her, he picks her up and swings her around in circles. He sets her down a minute later, and they're both panting and laughing.

It's about that time that they notice Mimi sitting on the porch. Stanley waves, and she smiles and waves back. Bonnie runs up onto the porch and grabs hold of Mimi's hand.

"Come on," she says. Mimi shakes her head and tries to hold on to the swing.

"I-I don't know how to play football," she says.

"I'll teach you," Bonnie says, trying to pull her off the swing.

"I don't know, Bonnie," Mimi says. "You guys look like you're having fun."

"It'd be even more fun if you'd get your butt up off the porch and come play with us," Stanley says, throwing the ball high into the air and catching it again. A few months ago Mimi would have had a snappy retort about rednecks and pigskins, but now instead of infuriating her Stanley's comment only makes her smile.

Bonnie puts on her best pleading face, and Mimi knows she's lost the battle even before the girl opens her mouth.

"Please?" Bonnie asks. Mimi sighs.

"Okay. Okay! You win!"

Bonnie gives her a smile that could melt a heart of stone, and Mimi lets herself be pulled down into the yard. Bonnie leaves her by Stanley, and then takes off further down the yard. Stanley comes up behind Mimi and puts the ball in her hands, showing her how to wrap her fingers around it.

"There you go," he says, stepping back. "Just like that."

"Now what?" Mimi asks, unsure.

"Throw it," Stanley says.

Bonnie nods encouragingly from across the yard, and gets ready to jump up for a catch. Mimi takes a deep breath. Then she pulls back her arm and lets the ball go. It spirals perfectly up into the air and straight across the yard. Stanley begins to laugh as Bonnie jumps up and tucks the ball to her chest.

"That was awesome!" he says, clapping Mimi on the back. "You should go out for the pros!"

"She's pretty good," Bonnie says, running up to them. She grins at Stanley. "I think we should play a real game."

"Okay," Stanley says, before Mimi can protest. "How do you suggest we divide the teams?"

"Boys against girls," Bonnie says automatically, still grinning.

"Now wait a minute," Stanley says, seeing where this is going.

"You played football in college," Mimi points out. She can't resist siding with Bonnie. "I think it's perfectly fair."

"Oh, so now you're ganging up on me!" Stanley says. Mimi and Bonnie grin at each other and exchange a high-five. A competitive look crosses Stanley's face. "Okay. You want to play that way? I bet I can still beat you both at once."

"You're on," Mimi says.

As it turns out, Mimi and Bonnie can more than hold their own against him. Bonnie and Stanley have been playing football together for years, so she knows all there is to know. Mimi knows a lot less about the game, but she picks it up as they go. She's got a throwing arm almost as good as Bonnie's, and that combined with the fact that Stanley can't keep them both pinned at once means that together they score their fair share of points. Of course, when Stanley gets ahold of the ball it takes them both to pull him down.

It is after one of these mad tackles when the three of them are lying in a laughing heap in the dirt that Mimi realizes just how much she has come to think of this place as home. A year ago if someone had told her she would have been lying in the dirt beside a farmer and his sister, she would have sent them to a shrink. And if they had told her that she would actually be _happy_ lying there in the dirt... She shakes her head.

"You know what sounds really good?" Stanley says as they stare up at the clouds. "Popcorn."

Mimi is about to say something about rednecks and their stomachs, but before she can get the words out Bonnie sits up and grins that particular grin of hers that usually means trouble for Mimi.

"Last one back has to make it," she says.

"Hey!" Mimi cries as Bonnie and Stanley both jump up and run for the house. She pushes herself to her feet and runs after them as fast as she can, already knowing that she's lost. But she also knows that when she gets inside, the three of them will all make the popcorn together. And when they're finished making a mess of the kitchen, and each other, they'll all go out and sit on the porch swing together underneath the stars and eat the slightly burnt popcorn while they make each other laugh so hard they cry. And, to be perfectly honest, Mimi wouldn't have it any other way.

For the first time in her life, she thinks she understands why Dorothy was so desperate to get back to Kansas. Turns out it can be a pretty okay place if you just have the right people to share it with.

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><p>PLEASE review and tell me what you think. Or else I'll have to send out the ninjas. ;) And don't forget to keep your eyes out for the next piece!<p> 


	3. Johnston: Words Left Unspoken

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own Jericho.  
>Author's Note: My third Jericho ficlet. This is basically the written form of Johnston's last moments and all of the things that might have been going through his head. Part of the scene has been altered just a little bit, but the dialogue is still all the same. Enjoy!<p>

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><p><strong>Johnston: Words Left Unspoken<strong>

He can feel someone carrying him away from the makeshift battlefield. Suddenly the sunlight isn't so bright, and he knows they've moved him inside. He can hear Jake shouting to clear the table. Emily yells something about getting Kenchy, and Jake calls back for her to get Gail. Then he and Eric are both shouting for someone to get them alcohol. He can feel them pulling open his shirt, feel someone putting pressure on the wound. He can feel the blood covering his chest.

Johnston Green is not a stupid man. He knows the end is coming. He knew it the second he saw that one particular gun barrel swinging his direction. Even before he felt the bullet strike home, he knew. This was going to be it.

He can hear Hawkins on the radio telling Jake that the enemy has retreated to the Talbot place. He tries to move his mouth, tries to tell Jake to be strong, but the words refuse to come. In the end it's alright though, because he can just barely hear Hawkins telling Jake that everyone will be looking to him now. He can tell by the change in his son's voice that Jake understands.

Jake returns to the table, and Johnston finally gets his mouth to move.

"Get 'em out."

His sons exchange a look. They don't understand. But there isn't time to explain.

"Get 'em out," he repeats.

Jake nods, and turns to clear out all the others who have gathered in the next room. They don't understand why, but they do as Jake tells them. Part of Johnston swells with pride. These people already trust Jake the way they trust him. And Jake will do anything to protect them. Johnston knows he'll be leaving his people in good hands.

He turns his head enough to see their faces as they leave. They're good people, people he's lived beside and worked with and cared for longer than most of them can even remember. There's so much that he wants to say to them, so much more than he has time for.

The first face he sees, the one that turns its back to help usher the others out, is that of Gray Anderson. He wants so badly to be a leader, and someday Johnston knows that he'll be a really good one. But not yet. He still has some things to learn. Jake and Eric have their work cut out for them there. Gray will probably be a huge pain in their backsides. But when the time is right, he'll come through. And then they'll be glad they have him.

Dale is one of the closest to the door, and so he is one of the first out. Oh, Dale. The boy who wants so badly to be a man. He reminds Johnston of Jake sometimes. One wrong push, and he'll fall off the cliff. But he's trying to do the right thing, and with Jake around to keep him in line, Johnston is confident that he'll turn into a good, strong young man. His mother would have been proud. So would Gracie. He wonders if Dale knows that.

Bill and Jimmy head out the door together, the way they used to do everything when they were growing up. They're good men. Not always the brightest, but they're loyal to the core and that's what counts. Jake and Eric will need men like that. Johnston wishes he had the breath left to tell them "Good job." Two simple words, but he knows it would mean a lot to Bill and Jimmy. They do so much, and yet so often they get over looked. He hopes his sons don't ever make the mistake of taking their people for granted.

The two deputies are followed out by all the others, faces that Johnston tries to engrave in his memory. He wants to tell them all how grateful he is for everything they've done, to remind them of all the good times and tell them to be strong in the bad. He wants to give them something to hold on to, one last little piece of hope. But there just isn't time.

Stanley is one of the last to leave. People had always said he should have been a Green with how much time he spent at the Green household. He's like a third son to Johnston and Gail. He was a troublesome kid as a boy, but he's grown up into an incredible young man. His parents would be so proud. Johnston wants to wish him and Mimi all the happiness in the world, wants to give him the blessing his own father isn't there to give. But time is running out, and he needs to be sure that his own sons are ready for what they have to do.

Gray turns in the kitchen doorway, and he and Johnston exchange a nod. That simple gesture says so much. In his heart, Gray knows that it isn't him Jericho will follow to hell and back. It's the sons of Johnston Green. And if that's the way it has to be, then he's going to do everything he can to help them.

Emily finally makes it back with Kenchy as Gray nears the door. The doctor argues quickly but quietly, gesturing at Johnston, but Gray is firm and finally Kenchy throws up his hands and walks out. Emily looks over Gray's shoulder, and he watches as her eyes fill with tears. They both know he won't leave this room alive. Johnston feels his heart break a little at the sight. Aside from his sons and his wife, Emily is the one he wishes most he could speak to. She has become a part of the Green family in so many ways, the daughter he and Gail never had. He wants to hold her one more time, to tell her that he knows she'll be alright. He wants to tell her to be strong for Jake, to ask her to be sure and take care of the one man who will be too busy holding them all together to look out for himself. But most of all he wants to tell her how much he loves her, to look her in the eyes and be sure she knows that no matter what Jonah says, she has one father who is more proud of her than she will ever know.

Maybe she sees some of it in his eyes, because a single tear rolls down her cheek. And then she straightens and takes a deep breath and wipes it away. She looks up at Jake and gives him a nod. Then, with a final look at Johnston, she slowly turns and follows Gray out into the yard.

The door closes behind her, and then Johnston is alone with his sons.

Jake takes one hand and Eric the other, and Johnston squeezes them both tightly. He looks from one son to the other as he forces the words out. More than ever, he needs his sons to hear and understand what he needs to tell them. But as always, Jericho comes before anything else.

"You listen. This place is where you survive. Next stand here. _Here._"

"We will," Jake promises. He's just barely holding himself together, but Johnston doesn't have time to comfort him.

He tilts his head so he can look at Eric. Eric, who has always tried to follow in his father's footsteps. Eric, who is destined to forever walk in someone else's shadow. Eric, who will be lost without him, at least for a while.

"I'm sorry you have to see this," he says. "You've been through enough."

"Dad. Dad stop." Eric shakes his head, and he sounds like his throat is tightening. Even now, even with the end so close, part of him is refusing to accept it.

"You're stronger than you think you are, though," Johnston says. He needs Eric to understand that he can make it, that he'll be okay. "Always have been."

Eric shakes his head again, and tears begin to fill his eyes.

"I love you, son," Johnston says.

A tear runs down Eric's face. Jake too is close to tears. Johnston forces a smile.

"I guess I zigged when I shoulda zagged out there, huh?" he says. Jake laughs a little in spite of himself. Johnston sighs. He's gotten through. They understood the message, even the parts he doesn't know how to say. The Green boys are back on the same team, and they're going to finish what he started. His people are in good hands.

There's only one more person he wishes he could say good-bye to.

"I sure wish your mother was here," he says.

Jake looks like he's about to lose it.

"She's coming," he says firmly, as if he can will his father to stay alive. "She'll be here."

"Tell your mother I love her," Johnston says. Part of him knows that she won't make it in time. He needs to tell her something, anything, but those simple words are the only thing he can say. It'll have to do. There isn't time to tell his sons all the things he wants her to know. In his heart he knows that she'll understand, that she'll know all of things he isn't saying.

Jake finally breaks, and Johnston realizes there is still something he needs to say before he goes.

"I was… hard on you. I pushed you… away." Breathing is getting harder, and despite his best efforts he knows they can hear it in his voice. But right now he has eyes only for Jake. He needs to make amends while he still can. He needs to say the words that have hang between them, but that he has never quite been able to say. "I'm glad… you came… home."

He feels a tear run down his face. A small strangled sob escapes Jake, but he's still holding on. Johnston meets his eyes and squeezes his hand as tightly as he can. Jake needs to hear his next words even more than Emily.

"I'm proud of you."

Johnston has been waiting years to say those words, and he can tell by the look on his son's face that Jake has been waiting years to hear them. For the first time in a long time, everything between them is right again.

And with that, it's done. He's said what he needed to say, and he knows his sons understand. They can do this. They're strong enough. In a few minutes Jake will go back out with Eric by his side, and together they will lead Jericho against New Bern. Somehow he knows that Jericho will survive, just like they always have. His people are in good hands.

He closes his eyes. The torch has been passed. It's time to go home.

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><p>Please review and let me know what you thought! :) Next piece should be up soon.<p> 


	4. Heather: Some Things Never Change

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own it.  
>Author's Note: Piece number four up. This one is about Heather, a combination of my take on her background and her friendship with Emily. Enjoy!<p>

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><p><strong>Heather: Some Things Never Change<strong>

Heather never really had a best friend until she moved to Jericho. Growing up the minister's kid in a town like New Bern had made her a bit of an oddity. There were two kinds of people in New Bern: the older people, whose parents and grandparents had lived and died there and who were bound and determined to do the same, and the younger people, who were rough and rebellious and always looking for a good (if not always legal) time. The former weren't really friend material for a young girl, and the latter were not exactly the kind of people a minister wanted his daughter to be hanging around with. So most of Heather's childhood had consisted of her parents and her older brother.

Steven was ten years older than Heather, and their parents had sort of assumed that he would be the only child. And then Heather had come along. Her mother had been thrilled to have a daughter, but as it turned out Heather was always more her father's child. John Lisinski was a mechanic in his spare time, and he learned early on that his daughter shared his knack for fixing things. So he began to teach her what he knew. She learned to build batteries, strip wires, hotwire cars, and change tires and oil. By the age of ten she could already drive the truck with ease, and when she was finally old enough to do so legally she could probably have taken it apart and put it back together with her eyes closed. Between her father and Steven, Heather would never have had much of a chance as a girly girl. Instead of princesses and tea parties, she was raised on Star Trek marathons and street football. Steven loved her to death, and he made sure she knew how to take care of herself. It never ceased to amaze their parents how close they were despite the ten year age gap.

By the time Heather was in sixth grade, her mother had long since given up fighting the ripped jeans and oil-stained T-shirts that made up most of her daughter's wardrobe. Steven was off with the army by then. He'd been stationed in Iraq, but he wrote to Heather every week and visited New Bern as often as he could. Somehow he managed to get leave for Heather's twelfth birthday, unbeknownst to his family, and he showed up on the porch just as the family was sitting down for dinner. Heather had never been so excited in all her life. Three days later their mother was driving him to the airport and their car was hit by a truck whose breaks had given out. They were both killed instantly. The loss was hard on Heather. Years later she would still open her mailbox hoping to find a letter from her brother, only to remember that he was gone for good.

Heather found a sudden popularity in high school among the boys, due mostly to her skill with machinery. A girl who could hotwire motorcycles and climb safely through electric fences was in high demand with the more rebellious types. But none of them ever gave anything back. Her only real friend was Ted Lewis, whose father was the local mechanic and an avid churchgoer, and so Ted had practically grown up with Heather. They were actually quite close, and they spent a lot of time together. For the most part, though, it was just Heather and her father. And, to be perfectly honest, they liked it that way.

Graduation arrived, and Heather set out for college. She got a degree in primary education, and then went back to New Bern. Not because she wanted to, necessarily, but because she knew her father needed her. For two years she taught in New Bern. It was an acceptable life, but she was never really completely happy with it. And then one day her dad had a heart attack and died, and suddenly Heather was alone. Three months later she heard that there was an open teaching position in the nearby town of Jericho. Having nothing else to tie her to New Bern, she decided it would make as good a place as any to start.

The welcome she received in Jericho stunned her. Two nights after her arrival, Gail invited her over for a come-and-go barbeque so she could meet some other people in town. They were all so nice and welcoming, and she fit right in among them. Heather could hardly believe how different it was from New Bern.

It was at the Greens' that night that she met Emily Sullivan. The two of them hit it off right away. The next day Emily had given her the official tour of Jericho, and then that evening they had met Stanley and Eric and April at Bailey's for some drinks and poker. It was the first place outside of the family dinner table that Heather had ever felt truly at home.

She and Emily had become close friends after that. They actually had a fair bit in common. They had read many of the same books, and they had both grown up surrounded by boys. That meant that they were also the first solid girlfriends each other had ever had. They spent many of their spare evenings together watching movies and playing cards. Of course, choosing movies was always interesting. Emily had a soft spot for chick flicks, while Heather was more of an Indiana Jones girl. But they usually found something that worked for both of them. Emily was actually a fairly decent cook, and she even managed to teach Heather a bit. Heather, in turn, showed Emily how to finally silence the strange noises coming from her car engine. Even after Roger came along, Emily almost always invited Heather to join them in whatever they were doing. Most people would have felt like a third wheel, but Heather and Roger got on well, so she really didn't mind.

And then the bombs fell, and the world changed forever.

It's been almost three years since Emily and Heather first met. So much has changed. Jericho has changed. So have its people, Heather and Emily included. But there are some things that never will change, like the friendship the two of them have.

Today would have been Chris' twenty-sixth birthday. Heather is standing beside Emily at his grave, just as she has done on his birthday for the past two years, and just as Emily has stood beside her at Steven's grave on his last two birthdays. She had secretly hoped that Jake might be there this year, for Emily's sake, but he and Hawkins still aren't back. They sent word two days ago that they made it safely to Texas, and now there are rumors that there may be more fighting soon. The battle is far from over. But for now none of that matters. Here, at this moment, the only things that matter are the flowers in Emily's hand and the tombstone before them. Heather has always wondered what drew her and Emily together in the first place, and now she wonders if maybe it was the loss of their brothers. Emily was used to being strong, to having someone to protect. Heather knows that she herself had a sheltered childhood, and she wonders if maybe it was that innocence, that spark that drew Emily to her. Maybe Emily needed someone to protect, and maybe in Heather she saw something worth protecting.

The recent stay in New Bern has changed Heather. She knows she's not the innocent school teacher she used to be. She's held her own against crime lords and soldiers. She's fought her way across deserted forests to safety. She's shot guns and sabotaged generators and stolen documents and spied on military officers and gotten herself mixed up in conspiracies that are way over her head. She's not the person she used to be. She's stronger now, wiser. But there's still a part of her that remembers what it was like to be Steven's little sister, and that part of her likes to know that there's someone around to protect her. She and Emily are only three years apart, and most days they're just the same. But looks can be deceiving. Emily might look like a soft country girl, but underneath it all Heather knows that Emily is fierce lioness who's stronger than she'll ever be. She's taken up a gun more than once in defense of her home, not to mention the time she helped smuggle in the vaccine for the Hudson River Virus, or when she stole her father's truck and drove it right through his front gate. The list goes on and on and on. There are days when the fighting stops and Emily's more than happy to go back to letting people think that she's just a nice schoolteacher. But when push comes to shove, Heather knows that Emily will never back down, that she will always come through for the people she cares about. She's like Steven that way.

So it is to Emily's house that Heather goes when she wakes up at two in the morning haunted by the faces of the people she saw Constantino's men kill. And every time without fail Emily pulls herself out of bed and makes a pot of tea and they sit together on the couch, sometimes talking and sometimes not, until one or both of them falls asleep. Emily never tells anyone about Heather's nightmares, just as Heather never tells anyone about the way Emily freezes and her eyes tear up when her fingers brush against the wedding dress that still hangs in the back of her closet. They need each other that way, need each other to understand the weaknesses they could never explain to anyone else.

Emily finally stands up and takes one last look at Chris' grave before turning to Heather.

"You ready?" she asks. Heather nods. She needs to head over to New Bern to help Beck try and work things out with the townspeople, and Emily has offered to drive her.

"You really don't have to, you know," Heather says as they reach the car. "I can always take Charlotte."

"Charlotte almost exploded the last time you drove her," Emily says, trying to look stern and failing. It never ceases to amaze Heather how quickly Emily can make herself switch from one emotion to the next. "Besides. You might need back-up."

"Right," Heather says sarcastically. "Because a whole group of marines aren't enough back-up." But she's glad Emily is coming, and they both know it.

"I only have one condition," Emily says as she puts the car in gear and reaches for the radio that they both know only has one station now.

"And what's that?"

"I get to control the music."

Heather laughs loud and clear as she rolls down her window, feeling the wind hit her face as they fly down the road. The apocalypse might have come and gone, but some things will never ever change.

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><p>A word of advice: reviews = happy author. So far I've kept this up for a few days, but the more feedback I get the more likely I am to keep this up. I know from the traffic that people are reading this. So PLEASE review and let me know what you think! Thank-you.<p> 


	5. Mimi: Happiness

Disclaimer: If I owned the show, I probably wouldn't be here writing fanfiction, would I?  
>Author's Note: So AP exams made life a little crazy, but now I'm back on top of this. This piece is about Mimi's thoughts on what I think her relationship with her mom would have been like, mostly because I think that would have had a HUGE effect on the person she is now. Enjoy!<p>

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><p><strong>Mimi: Happiness<strong>

_I should have been a lawyer. _

It's the only thing she could think that whole night as she sat in the underground shelter, waiting for the radioactive rain to stop.

_Mom was right. I should have been a lawyer._

She had done it to spite her mother, of course. Her infernal, stuffy, arrogant, controlling mother, who just so happened to be a topnotch lawyer. It was true that she had inherited her mother's gift for arguing (and usually winning). She could argue a starving man into giving up his last meal if she wanted to, not that she's ever actually tried. But she had decided early on in life that she would _not_ turn out like her mother. So, to her mother's horror, she had dropped out halfway through law school and had instead gone to a smaller college that had let her combine a business degree with a legal one. Instead of joining her mother in the legal world and becoming the unstoppable mother-daughter duo her mother had wanted, she had ended up working for the IRS. It was far from perfect, and secretly Mimi had begun to think that maybe she would have been better off as a lawyer. But she had lived it up and made it seem like she couldn't have been happier. She refused to let her mother have the satisfaction of winning. And eventually that mundane job with the IRS had led her to the porch swing where she now sits in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, watching the sun set over Stanley Richmond's corn field.

Her mother would never have approved of Stanley, of course. No farmer's son would ever be good enough for the daughter of an upper-class family that could trace its lineage back to His Royal Stuffiness Something-Or-Other. If she's perfectly honest with herself, she really doesn't miss her stuffy relatives. The silly, self-absorbed cousins, the crazy uncles who said all the wrong things at all the wrong times, the aunts for whom it was impossible to stay out of anyone else's business. She doesn't miss them. Except for maybe cousin Judith and her five-year-old son, Frank. She had always been a decent girl, and he was such a sweet little boy. But they weren't in New York at the time, so Mimi's almost certain that they're okay. And as bad as it sounds, she really doesn't miss the rest of them. There are days, though, when she does wish she had gotten the chance to introduce Stanley to her mother's stiff, upper-class family, particularly her grandmother, if only for the sheer joy of seeing a good two-thirds of them pass out from heart attacks.

No, her mother would never have approved. But she likes to think that her father might have. He had been a good man, her father. A quiet man who always knew the right thing to say, and Mimi had loved him dearly. He was the one who had taught her to play chess. They had actually become quite close through those games. She had always known that he loved her, even when she completely screwed everything up. His love never had to be earned.

Her mother's, on the other hand, had to be bought with frequent successes and achievements. There was no room for failure, no room for trying. Whether it be an English essay, a piano recital, dance practice, the science fair, or a simple game of chess, Mimi _would_ succeed at everything, and that was that. Failure to do so resulted in severe punishment and being sent back out to try again. When she got older Mimi learned how to argue and yell back, and the resulting shouting matches and heated debates could have put even the best state lawyers to shame. There had been a good many groundings and nights of being sent to bed without dinner, but Mimi was sick and tired of her controlling mother, and she refused to back down on anything. Her father had mediated as best he could, separating the two screaming woman, doing what he could to ease his wife's anger, and sneaking Mimi dinner when needed. When she reached college, Mimi and her mother had reached a precarious truce, and they did what they could to try and keep the peace, if only for her father's sake. Dropping out of law school, however, had been the final straw. Her mother had barely spoken to her after that, and Mimi had made no effort to restore the lost relationship. She refused to be controlled by her mother any longer.

And yet, despite her best efforts, Mimi finds that she has become her mother's daughter in so many ways. When she first arrived in Jericho she had dressed the part of the business woman, and acted the haughty New Yorker. Exactly like her mother. And even now, after all the months she's spent living on the farm, she finds that there are still things she says and thinks that sound exactly like her mother. Sometimes it scares her how much alike they are, especially where Bonnie is concerned. It amazes her sometimes how those same words she used to hate from her mother will leave her mouth and get the exact same reaction from Bonnie that they used to get from her. She'll never be Bonnie's mother, and she knows better than to try. But she cares for the girl so much, even if Bonnie doesn't always understand that. And sometimes, after she's said something that sounds exactly like her mother and Bonnie has shouted at her and stormed out of the room exactly like Mimi used to do at that age, sometimes it makes her wonder if maybe she misjudged her mother, if maybe all she had really wanted was the very best for her daughter. Sometimes she wishes she could ask her.

Not that it really matters. Her parents are gone, and that's that. She cried every night for a week after she found out. Every single time she thought she was being quiet, and every single time Stanley came out and sat beside her on the swing where she had taken refuge and held her until she cried herself to sleep. She misses her father, misses playing chess with him, misses his easy ability to make her laugh. But strangely enough, she finds that she misses her mother the most. Well, maybe a better word would be "regret". She regrets that she never really got to make amends, regrets that she just _had_ to drop out of law school. Maybe working with her mom wouldn't have been so bad after all...

"Pretty, isn't it?"

Mimi looks up to see Stanley come out onto the porch. He sits down beside her on the swing, and she lays her head on his shoulder as he slips his arm around her. Together they stare out at the sunset.

"I wish I could tell you that it stops hurting," Stanley says finally, "but it never really does." He shifts a bit, and she knows he's looking down at her. "It gets easier though, after a while. And no matter what happens, you've got Bonnie and me. We'll be a family together."

Mimi feels tears welling in her eyes.

"How do you do that?" she asks, reaching up and wiping her eyes.

"Do what?" Stanley asks.

"Always manage to say the right thing?"

"I guess I just have a gift," Stanley says, and she knows he's smiling that cocky, joking smile of his. Mimi laughs a small, tired laugh and puts her head back on his shoulder. Together they watch in silence as the sun finally touches the horizon and begins to sink beyond.

As she watches the golden ball disappear, Mimi is suddenly struck by a thought. Her mother would almost certainly not have approved of a simple farm boy from Kansas who tended to talk first and think later. But somehow Mimi feels that maybe, just maybe, her mother would have approved of Stanley anyway, simply because he made her daughter happy. Really and truly happy. And if she could only see her daughter now, see how happy she was, maybe she would have been able to forgive her for deciding not to be a lawyer.

Because sitting on the rickety wooden porch swing with her head on Stanley Richmond's shoulder in the middle of a corn field in Jericho, Kansas, Mimi thinks that dropping out of law school might be the best decision she's ever made.

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><p>So what did you think? Please review and let me know! Reviews = happy author = more pieces. :)<p> 


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